OSU Mini Malter Project

House of Quality (Updated 01/04/2011)

Engineering Requirements (Updated 01/04/2011)

1) Refresh vessel volume of waterReplenishing of the water during the steeping phase is important to clean the grain and keep fresh water accessible to the grain. The target value is to circulate the entire volume once every 4 hours with a tolerance of <4.5 hours.

2) Increase moisture content of barleyThe purpose of steeping is to increase the moisture content of the barley grain. It should go from around 10% up to around 45%. The target value is 47% with a tolerance of +/- 2%.

3) Aeration rate through waterDuring immersion steeping the water must be aerated or else the grain will suffocate and die. After talking with industry contacts we decided on an aeration rate of 0.5CFM with a tolerance of >0.2 CFM.

4) Allow control of steeping water temperatureThe customer would like to control the temperature of the water coming into the malting chamber. The range is from the ground water temperature up to 75F.

5) Keep steeping grain temperature below maximumIf barley reaches a temperature of 75F during the malting process it will die. We are targeting to keep the steeping grain at 70F or below, but have a tolerance of <73F.

6) Drain steeping waterDuring the steeping phase the water must be drained to allow the barley to couch. To allow couching to begin quickly we are target a drain time of 15 minutes with a tolerance of <20 minutes.

7) Keep germinating grain temperature below maximumIf barley reaches a temperature of 75F during the malting process it will die. During the germination process we are targeting to keep the grain at or below 70F, with a tolerance of <73F.

8) Keep germinating grain temperature above minimumIf barley is too cold, around 55F, during germination it will germinate slowly and inconsistently. During germination we are targeting to keep the grain at or above 60F with a tolerance of >58F.

9) Mix grainMixing the barley is essential in producing a uniform product. Great western malting mixes their barley once every 8 hours and we thought that would be a sufficient target. We assigned a tolerance of +/- 0.5 hours.

10) Allow adjustment of airflow rateThe airflow rate needed through the grain bed varies depending on the amount of grain and the phase of malting which the grain is in. At great western malting the airflow rate is 20 CFM per 100 lbs. of barley during germination which means for a 150 pound load the flow rate would be ~30 CFM. During kilning the airflow rate is 137 CFM per 100 lbs. of barley, so with a load of 350 lbs. of barley the maximum flow rate would be ~478 CFM. To cover these values the target range is 25 CFM – 485 CFM.

11) Allow temperature adjustment of airThe temperature of the air flowing through the grain bed is important during the germination and kilning phase. During germination the temperature should be that of ambient air. During kilning it should be adjustable from 120F up to 180F to allow step increases in temperature. This allows for the malt to dry more consistently. To make sure that 180F is attainable we are designing for a range of ambient room temperature up to 185F.

12) Recirculate airTo allow the customer to create highly browned malt while keeping the malter efficient it should be able to recirculate the hot air during the kilning phase. We are targeting a range of recirculation from 10% up to 95% with a tolerance of +/- 5 %

13) Load barley in less than 15 minutesThe malter should be quick and easy to load so that the malting process can begin promptly. We are targeting a load time of 10 minutes with a tolerance of <15 minutes.

14) Unload barley in less than 15 minutesThe malter should be quick and easy to unload so that the malter can be cleaned an set up for the next malting cycle. We are targeting an unload time of 10 minutes with a tolerance of <15 minutes.

15) Shall be less than 72" wide and 84" tall on one side.The malter should be able to fit through a standard double wide door to allow transportation to different areas of the OSU campus. We are targeting a width of 50" with a tolerance of <72" and a height of 75" with a tolerance of <84".

16) Malter shall weigh less than 1000 lbs. unloadedTo allow the malter to be transported by a forklift or pallet jack the malter should weigh less than 1000 lbs. unloaded. We are targeting an unloaded weight of 700 lbs. with a tolerance of <1000 lbs.

17) Process 150 - 300 lbs of barelyThe customer needs the malter to process a minimum of 150 lbs. of barley in one batch so it can be used to brew a batch on the OSU pilot brewing system. The customer would also like to be able to process up to 300 lbs. of barley in one batch. We are targeting a range of 150 lbs. - 300lbs. of barley processed per batch with a tolerance of >140 lbs.

18) Cost less than $20,000 to build and testThe customer would like the project to cost less than $20,000 to build. We are targeting the project to cost less than $15,000 with a tolerance of <$20,000.